


Miniature Footprints

by LeftShark



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Dad Yondu, Kidfic, Peter is a little babu baby, deaging, hella dad yondu, yondu is the number 1 dad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-04
Updated: 2017-05-08
Packaged: 2018-05-11 17:05:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5634937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeftShark/pseuds/LeftShark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A mission gone wrong leads to the de-aging of Peter.</p><p>The Guardians, totally incapable of childcare, leave Peter with Yondu while they look for a solution to their problem.</p><p>Unknown to the rest of them, Peter's brain is perfectly fine. He remembers every little detail of what's happened, but has not told the others that his grown-up brain is trapped inside his shrunken body. He uses this to his advantage to cause mayhem.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> do you ever need a break from a fic so you start writing a new fic but then you need a break from that fic so you write trash?  
> because this is what that is  
> trash
> 
> all mistakes are mine/autocorrects

"What did you do to him!?" Yondu shot a glare at the Guardians of the Galaxy. In Drax's arms, there was a small child with a mop of orange-y blonde hair and a pair of unmistakable, large, green eyes. The Centuarian Ravager wasted no time in getting the child from Drax, who gently handed him over.

"It ain't our fault!" Rocket snapped, flicking his tail. "You know how Quill is! Always diving headfirst in to trouble!"

"And what do you want me to do about it!?" Yondu raises a brow and placed child-Peter on his hip.

"Papa!" Peter mumbled happily, latching on to Yondu with his short arms and legs.

"I don't know, find a way to reverse it!? He ain't completely gone, he remembers us, he just aint...all there," Rocket huffed "We tried everything, we don't know what to do."

"He has hardly spoken, we don't know if he is capable of actually speaking completely. We were in the midst of a battle, and Peter disappeared. When we found him, he was like this. We are also unable to determine his age," Gamora informed, stepping up to stop Rocket from continuing his rant. "He does, like Rocket mentioned, remember us, which is good."

"He understands us when we speak, which is also good. And he is most certainly old enough to run away and get lost," Drax said, shooting a small glare at Peter.

"Oops," the child said with a giggle.

"We had to chase him down a couple'a times," Rocket nodded.

"I ain't never trustin' ya with my boy again," Yondu said after a moment.

"Yeah, well, whatever. Can you find a way to fix it? We ain't exactly gonna go to the Nova Corps on Xandar and have everyone know what happened. And we kinda need our team leader back!" The Raccoon snapped.

"And you're sure this ain't no joke?"

"Why would we lie about something like this?" Drax questioned, the other three nodded in agreement.

"I'll...see what I can do. There's some kinds of strange things that ain't got a way to fix 'em, and this...might be one of them. Now get the hell off my ship, you lot of trash."

 

\----

Yondu held Peter on his hip as he strolled down the walkway toward his quarters, thinking of a way to alert the crew of the situation.

No doubt they'd melt at the sight of a tiny child onboard, like the lot of weaklings they are. He himself was taking in this situation surprisingly well, at least he thought he was. Nothing bad had happened so far, which was good.

"Kagun!" Peter exclaimed, reaching a small hand out and pointing behind Yondu.

"Huh?" The captain raised and eyebrow and tuned around to find Kraglin sprinting after them. "Oh."

"Sir! Please tell me you did NOT steal someone's kid again!"

"What?! No!"

"Put it back where you got it from!"

"Kraglin--"

"Why would you steal another kid!?"

"Krag--"

"Children come from the deepest corner of hell."

"That's great an' all that you think that way, Krag, but please shut that jagged trap o'yours and let me explain."

 

—–-•-–—

"Oh," Kraglin said when Yondu had finished explaining, looking down at Peter who was trying to wriggle his way out of Yondu's arms. "So you basically just stole the same kid over again."

"I didn't steal 'im. They handed him over to me like a bunch of cowards," Yondu confirmed, setting Peter on the floor. The toddler made a happy noise and clung to Kraglin's leg, looking up at the man.

"Where'd they get his clothes from?" Kraglin questioned, reaching down to pull the hood of Peter's sweatshirt over the top of his head. Yondu watched with a fond smile as Peter tugged the hood off and caused his mane of hair to jut out in several directions.

"Either they belonged to their pet, or they did the good hero-type thing and bought him some...rather than stealing it."

"Well, at least he can still recognize us, so that's good."

Yondu nodded, "Although, there are quite a bit o'things he cant remember, from what I've put together."

While the pair was engaged in their conversation (about him), Peter took this opportunity to run off.

While he traveled down the nearest hallway, he got to thinking.

They don't know I'm completely fine in my head, he mused. But…Yondu and Kraglin seemed happier than usual when they saw me. They weren't jumping up and down and hooting with joy, but they didn't seem as tense and tough. Who knew they had soft spots for really small kids?

Earlier had been the first time Peter had seen Yondu smile rather than slyly smirk in a long while.

Maybe they like me as a little kid?

He could see why, he was small, adorable, incapable of being a nuisance.

A small smirk spread on to his pudgy face; he could use this to his advantage. They thought he was a kid who had no idea what was going on, but (by chance) remembered who they were. This could be fun.

Before he could pick up his speed and run again, he was scooped up off the ground by Yondu.

"Get back here, Pete!"

The child pouted and wormed around in the captain's arms, trying to get free.

"Where're you going, kid?"

"Away," Peter replied, slumping his shoulders in defeat. He'd almost gotten away, too!

"Ya can't do that."

"Why?" Peter craned his neck back to stare up at Yondu. "I wan to."

"That's too bad," Yondu tossed the boy on go his shoulder and turned the other way.

"Where we go?" Peter questioned placing a hand on Yondu's shoulder blade to steady himself as he lifted his upper body to avoid looking down at the floor beneath them. Yondu was tall. It was scary.

"To sleep. It's late and I'm tired."

 

—–-•-–—

Getting a toddler to calm down and sleep was way easier said than done. Yondu figured that out the hard way. Trying to settle down a child that had more interest in jumping on the bed rather than sleeping in it was harder work than he'd thought.

"No tired!" Peter exclaimed, landing hard on the bed before being sprung upward toward the ceiling.

"I don't care if you have the energy of a billion stars!" Yondu grunted, plopping down on to the bed beside Peter, who was still happily jumping. "Go to your own room if you're gonna be a hooligan, boy."

"Can't," Peter said, coming down, then going back up again. "Bed not bouncy."

This time, when he came down, Yondu stuck his arm out, hitting Peter's legs and causing the boy to faceplant in to the pillows. "Beds are for sleepin', not jumpin'. If you sleep now, you can spend t'morra jumpin all day long until both your legs break." He wrapped an arm around Peter and dragged him closer. "For now, sleep."

Realizing he was already defeated, Peter sighed, tucking his head under Yondu's chin. "Okay, papa. I sleep."


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow it's been like 100 years and this chapter isn't even that good

"Papa," Peter's tiny hands lightly smacked at Yondu's face. "Wake!"

"Shhhh, shut up. 'M tired...lemme sleep," Yondu mumbled, rolling away from the boy. Next sleep cycle, he was putting the boy in the bunks with the others. He didn't want to put Peter all alone and he wasn't ready for another round of being kicked all night long by tiny feet. The boy rolled around a lot in his sleep and it was interfering with Yondu's own slumber, which was uncool.

"Up!" Peter demanded, punching Yondu repetitively with unharming fists. "Up! Up!"

"Ey!" Yondu reached a hand back and caught one of Peter's wrists. "Why are you hitting me?"

Peter's response was a soft babble of nonunderstandable words, and another soft smack to Yondu. That must've been what Gamora meant when she said Peter couldn't talk very well. Full sentence explanations wouldn't come from the boy.

Sighing, Yondu sat up, much to Peter's delight, and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "Alright, ya little half-pint. Im up. Whad'ya want?"

Peter looked up at him from where he was sitting and smiled. His arms stuck out in the universal 'pick me up' gesture. Without hesitation, Yondu scooped him up. "Can't talk too well yet..." Right. He'd have to remember that. "You must want food?"

He briefly remembered the very young children on his home planet. In his tribe, they'd wake in the morning as soon as the hunters would arrive with their catch. Yondu would wake with them, watch over them until their mothers woke. He was only a kid himself, but at the age of thirteen, he was basically the tribe's best babysitter. Too old to be considered a child; he was expected to do almost everything on his own, but too young to be a hunter. He was in the "in between" stage. The smaller children flocked to him all the time, demanding that he play games with them, tell them the stories from the few times that he'd actually left their home premises while on training/learning trips with the hunters. He was probably better at watching over children than their own mothers. But that's how things were. On his planet, children were sacred. 

He internally shrugged. Those were old memories. He'd gotten kicked out of the tribe and off the planet entirely for breaking their stupid codes when he got older, anyways. He did what he wanted, when he wanted, until they decided to practically exile him when he got to the final straw. Who cares, though? (She was green and she was hot and it was totally worth getting kicked off your own planet for.) Although, they could've just let him go without mowing down his fin. The fin had added height to him; made him look more intimidating.

Peter babbled happily, clinging on to Yondu's arm. Yondu smiled down at him. Peter was a cute baby, which would make up for any trouble he'd cause in the near future...hopefully.

"You need a bath first," Yondu declared, carrying the child into the restroom and making a quick work of getting him in to the tub. Thankfully, Peter wasn't much of a splasher, he chose to sit in the tub, attempting to talk to Yondu in coos and babbles. That was fine, though. He'd deal with baby talk over wet floors anyday.

 

Once setdown on the floor, wrapped in the nicest towel Yondu owned, Peter smiled to himself and made a speedy dash for the door.

Little kids liked running around in the nude, right?

He couldn't let them catch on to him. Lucky for him, his mind-to-mouth connection was actually the level of a child's. He didn't have to pretend to not know how to speak.

"Hey, get back here," unfortunately for Peter, Yondu's legs were longer and he was faster. He caught up to Peter in no time. "You can't just go streaking about the ship, kid!"

Peter looked up at him, pretending not to know why, and making a questioning sound.

"As much as we'd all love to, we can't just run around naked. We're professionals," he tugged Peter's shirt down over the boys head. "Besides, they crew'd probably look about a hundred times uglier if I let everyone run without their clothes."

Peter giggled at that and allowed Yondu to assist him in re-dressing himself.

"Good. Now we can get food," Yondu said, smiling down at his handiwork. He'd managed to get Peter in to his clothes in less than ten minuets. The child smiled, hugging on to Yondu's leg.

At the mention of food, he lifted his head and squeaked. "Foo?"

Yondu picked him up and placed him on his hip. "All the food you can eat."

—————

Kraglin had already alerted the crew of the situation, but that didn't stop them from oogling at Peter like they'd never seen a kid before. Peter felt suddenly embarrassed at being the center of attention. He hid his face against Yondu's shoulder.

"Your ugly mugs are scaring him," Yondu said, taking a seat in his usual spot and placing Peter on his lap.

"But boss, he's…cute."

"And you're all saps," Yondu retorted.

He set Peter down on a chair and sat in his own chair beside him.

This was not what Peter wanted.

He made this known by sliding off of his own chair and clambering on to Yondu's lap with a great amount of effort.

"That work's, too…" the Centuarian ruffled the mop of hair on the boy and leaned back in his chair. "One of you scumbags get us some food."

Peter giggled. "Skuhbak."

Yondu grinned. "That's right, Petey. My crew's a lot of lousy scumbags, huh?"

"Kagun!" Peter cried happily, slapping at the table in excitement as the mohawked ravager slipped into one of the seats at the table. Kraglin looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Hello, Peter."

The toddler hauled himself on the table and made his way over to Kraglin, sitting in front of the man and cooing at him in an unknown language.

"He doesn't talk," Kraglin said, removing one of Peter's small hands away from his hair.

"Scuhhhmbag," Peter cooed out.

"I stand corrected."

"He's just a babe," Yondu said, rolling his eyes. He ignored the Ravager that placed two bowls on the table. "He ain't good at speaking. He'll talk when he wants to, it's only been a day."

Peter grabbed the bowl that appears to have some kind of cereal in it.

"I know it's only been a day, but it's...unsettling. He's Peter. He never stops talking. We used to cherish the moments he fell asleep because he would stop talking. And even sometimes Peter talked in his sleep!"

"Peeta!" The child squeaked happily.

"Mmhmm," Yondu nodded. "You're Peter."

Satisfied with re-learning his own name, Peter placed the bowl on his lap, and began to eat his cereal. After a few handfuls, he offers a piece to Kraglin.

"Um, no thank you...I'm not hungry." He gently pushed Peter's hand away.

"Just take it, Krag," Yondu said, watching the pair.

"But I'm not hungry." Kraglin leaned back, putting distance between himself when Peter tried to shove a piece of cereal in the his nose.

"So?"

"Why would I--"

"You don't get it."

"What? I don't get what."

Peter leaned forward, tossing a piece of cereal at Kraglin. The man scooted his chair back.

"You don't get it: no matter how much of a badass ravager you think you are, when a child offers ya somethin'--anythin--you're supposed to shut the fuck up and take the offering," Yondu explained.

"But why..?"

Yondu shrugged. "You just do."

It was unwritten law.

\-------

"Right...so should we kill him now?"

Yondu looked at Horuz, eyes narrowing. His hands itched to yank his gun off his hip, but instead he tightened his grip on the sleeping child in his arms. They had been in the control room, looking out the large windshield at the stars. The activity on the ship had died down, leaving the selected night crew to begin their shift as the remaining crew members who had been working by day fell into sleep. Yondu usually waited until a while to sleep, he had to make sure the night shifters were actually working instead of goofing off. What Horuz had said, though, had caught him off guard. "You wanna say that again?"

"I just mean--after him crossing you and all, I figured it would just be easier to do it while he's weak and can't do anything about it!"

"..."

"Sir, you promised us all you'd finally kill him the next time you crossed paths! You've promised us you'd finally end him multiple times and you've never made good on your threat! You've always been soft on him! You've always been weak!"

Yondu bit his lip. Horuz often made good suggestions when it came to facing enemies. But Peter...Peter was no enemy. Peter was...a harmless child. A tiny little person incapable of causing harm. It would be wrong to kill him-- did Horuz think Yondu would ever really kill Peter?

"Horuz?"

"Yes, cap'n?"

"You got five seconds to get the fuck out of my line of sight."

"Yes, cap'n."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for those of you who gave suggestions  
> I will start working them in to the next chapter, but as always I AM OPEN TO MORE
> 
> so...what do you wanna see in this fic? im literally only writing this because it gives me a reason not to update my other fics 
> 
> ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°) I am a bad person  
>  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) oh well
> 
> All mistakes are mine/autocorrects


	3. Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick update

Over the next two weeks, Yondu had fallen in to a routine.

Get up, make sure Peter was dressed and not trying to streak about the ship, make sure Peter was also fed, and keep everyone on task. It was domestic and unsettling, and would've been a thousand times easier to do if Peter would just follow the script and go along with whatever Yondu told him to do instead of find every possible way to escape Yondu's sight.

"I swear," Yondu grumbled, kneeling beside Kraglin. "When we catch that kid, I'm gonna strangle him myself."

"Nah," Kraglin set down his screwdriver and pulled the ventilation grate off the wall, "You wouldn't do that. 'Sides, this ain't the first time he crawled around the vents like a lil worm. He used to do it all the time when he was 8."

"When he was 8 he could comm us or yell for help if he got stuck!" Yondu smacked the back of Kraglin's head. "Now hurry up and get in there and go after him!"

"You owe me for this," Kraglin said, squeezing in the vent and sighing. Most of the crew members could not fit in the tunnels, and the ones that could, Peter probably wouldn't trust them enough to crawl willingly in to their arms.

 

Inside the oxygen-circulating tunnels of the Elector, Peter sat cross-legged and whimpered. He'd forgotten that he was several feet smaller than normal and could not jump or haul himself up, or stretch himself across when he came to a six way intersection. These used to be his favorite obstacles. There were the usual 4 tunnels found in an intersection, and then two vertical tunnels, one going up and one going down.

Unfortunately for him, "down" was a dead end, leaving him trapped with nothing to do but look up at the tunnels above him and wait for someone to come rescue him. He's tried several times to jump and haul his way out of there, but he couldn't jump high enough, and his arms couldn't pull him up, either.

There was nothing left for him to do but cry.

He didn't plan on crying— it just came as a natural instinct. With his current situation, everything was scarier, everything hurt more, everything could cause him to burst in to tears.

He cried for what felt like hours, the sentence 'this was a bad idea' running on a loop in his mind, and eventually his sobs turned to sniffles as he tried hard not to fall asleep.

 

"Peter?" Kraglin peeked down at where the boy was curled up, sniffling. Green eyes looked up at him. "There you are! Finally, I've been crawling around for a long time!"

"Kagun!" Peter screeched, holding his arms out. He was saved!

"Hey, Petey." Kraglin scooted forward. He'd been army-crawling through the vents for a while now, he was more than relieved to finally find the mischievous boy. He leaned down, grabbing Peter's wrist and pulling the boy up. Immediately, Peter clung to him as best he could in the crowded space, whimpering. "You're safe now, Pete."

Kraglin turned them around and began to usher Peter out of the tunnels from the way he came in, making sure the boy was in front of him rather than beside him, to make sure Peter didn't fall down anymore chutes.

"I got 'im, Cap," He said in to his wrist piece, shuffling along. "The little troublemaker'll be back in your arms soon, you can stop worrying."

"I ain't worried!" Yondu snapped back immediately. "Just shut your mouth and get here quick.

 

By the time they reached Yondu, Peter was struggling to stay awake, moving slowly in a tortoise-like manner. He tumbled in to Yondu's arms and curled against the man's chest, letting his eyes slide closed. He didn't plan to take a nap, but crying for so long had worn him out.

"Ya owe me big time," Kraglin huffed, standing up.

"I don't owe you shit," Yondu turned away. He jostled Peter roughly. "Wake up, boy. There ain't no time for sleeping right now."

"Stop!" Peter growled, glaring. He re-positioned himself to get comfortable against Yondu's shoulders. "I'm sleep."

Yondu jostled him again.

"Papa!"

"You gotta stay up, Pete."

With an Unsatisfied whimper, he wriggled free from Yondu's grip and dropped to the floor, toddling over to Kraglin. Without a second thought, the first mate scooped the child up and let him lean against his chest.

"We're behind on business," Yondu informed, "because I had to drop everything and fish this little brat outta the ducts."

"I actually went in there and got him! Durin that time you coulda done everything you needed to!" Kraglin rolled his eyes, "You should just admit that you're ov'rprotective and worry too much about Pete."

"I am not! I don't!"

"And now you're bein mean so no one knows deep down that you're soft for Peter."

"I ain't."

"I really think ya are, cap," Kraglin shrugged. "I'm jus' gonna go put peter in his bed..."

"Whatever." Yondu crossed his arms and continued in the direction of the bridge.

He was NOT soft for Peter. Never had been, never will be. Nope. He was good with kids, and kids liked him (at least, he liked to think), and even if he WAS soft for Peter, he'd never admit it out loud. He was just...being a dad.

"Whatever…Peter's just a lil brat and soon he'll be back to normal and...I can slap him around for the trouble he's causin…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guys guys hahaha I was writing this Fic and I started thinking WHAT IF THE ROLES WERE SWITCHED and Yondu was turned in to a kid and the Ravagers dumped him on the guardians (of course, Yondu wouldn't be a toddler, he'd probable be in his pre-teen years) but then I started writing...
> 
> Someone please come cut my hands off before I write more


	4. Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's short, but I don't care :)
> 
> All mistakes are mine.
> 
> Comments and suggestions are appreciated.

Although being carried everywhere was nice, better discovered it was much nicer to run around wrecking havoc on the crew.

"Peter," Yondu called out, making the toddler stop in his tracks and look over his shoulder. "Behave yourself, boy. Don't go messing with the crew, alright."

Peter made a 'meh' sound to let Yondu knew he understood (although he wouldn't actually do as he was told), and continued on his merry way, running in the universal toddler-run: Arms swinging hard, and bouncing every time he took a step. Every toddler runs like that, it's a proven fact.

Getting away from his was easy, Peter though, smiling to himself. He jogged around the corner and slammed directly in to a pair of leather-clad legs. He shrieked in surprise as he looked up to find Horuz glaring down at him, then turned around and booked it back in the direction he came, not stopping until he was safely tucked under the protection of Yondu's trench coat.

"I saw monster," he whimpered, rubbing at his eyes, trying to keep himself from bawling, and pressing his face against Yondu's thigh.

"A monster, eh?" Yondu placed a hand on top of Peter's head and looked up as Horuz turned the corner. He spotted Peter and directed his scowl at the boy. "Well, you ain't wrong. You definitely saw a monster, Petey."

"I'm only a monster when little rats get in my way," Horuz retorted, stopping in front of them.

"He ain't a rat," Yondu crossed his arms.

"Relax, cap. I ain't gonna hurt 'im," he reached out and ruffled Peter's hair, despite the boy trying to flinch away. "Unless he gets in my way again."

Yondu shoved his hand away. "That won't end well for ya."

"We could always just eat 'im, too, cap. That works."

"Jus' go. Get back to work before you make him piss himself," Yondu reached down to give Peter's hair a comforting pat, "he clearly doesn't like you."

"Feeling's mutual," Horuz shrugged, continuing his walk.

Yondu picked Peter up.

"It's alright, kid. Stop crying."

Peter used his tiny hands to rub at his eyes. "Scumbag…"

Yondu chuckled, "He's the biggest scumbag on the ship, huh?"

Peter nodded.

"Now, Petey," Yondu set him down again and knelt in front of him. "I have a really important job for you."

Peter ticketed his head in confusion and interest.

"I need you to go find Kragley, and tell him to meet me on the bridge. Can you do that?"

"Kagun?"

"Yup."

Peter thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Good! Now go find Kraggles!"

Peter sloppily saluted, then toddled off to go find the first mate. All traces of tears and fear gone and forgotten.

 

What should have been an easy task got progressively harder as Peter made a 'short' stop in the mess hall to get a treat from one of the older Ravagers that was loitering about and engaging in conversations, probably recalling old battles and such.

There were four of them sitting at a table, talking. Peter trotted right up to them and climbed on to an open chair, grinning widely at them.

"Hello, little one," Ziraa, a blue alien who was missing his left eye, greeted. Peter waved to him. "Do you want some?" He motioned to a bowl that had a frozen dairy product that came from a 5 legged goat on Xandar. Peter had always called it 'alien goat ice-cream'.

Peter nodded excitedly and the bowl was passed to him. 

 

They tried to engage Peter in conversation, but he couldn't speak full sentences without babbling utter nonsense due to not being able to say words fast enough or correctly, and he eventually fell silent, listening to them recall a story about Kraglin single handedly taking down some kind of tentacle-slime-beast thing. Speaking of Kraglin...

"Gotta go," Peter said, sliding off the chair as the Ravager's wished him farewell.

He continued his jog throughout the main levels of the ship, searching for the first mate.

He stopped once more to stick his tongue out and make faces at Horuz through a window, as payback since the man frightened him earlier.

He scrammed, though, when Horuz pounded on the window and shouted "boo!"

 

 

 

"Kagun!" Peter ran up to the man, hugging his legs.

"Hey, pete--whoa--"

Peter had grabbed on to Kraglin's wrist with both of his little hands, tugging him in the direction of the door.

‘Papa needs you on the bridge,’ he tried to say, but all that really came out was "Papa" and "Bridge".

"Pete, chill," Kraglin kneeled. "What happened?"

"Papa wan' you," Peter grabbed Kraglin's arm again. "Come."

Kraglin scooped the boy up and put him on his hip. Peter tossed an arm around his neck and smiled as they headed to the bridge.

 

 

"Do we got a job, sir?" Kraglin asked, putting Peter down.

"Actually," Yondu sighed, looking down when Peter happily made himself comfortable hugging his legs. "We got ourselves a problem. Turns out the little guardians changed their mind about not wanting to deal with Petey. Instead of bringin their problem to us, they took it to the Nova fools on Xandar…"

"Sir...? You're staring off in to space..?"

"Nova Prime wants 'im. She thinks we kidnapped him. And…she's not the only one looking for him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's looking for Peter? :o  
> Is it Nebula?  
> Or Thanos?  
> Or even Peter's dad???
> 
>  
> 
> ///  
> guys guess who just got a job?
> 
> It was me :) :)
> 
> Have a short update to celebrate
> 
>  
> 
> ALSO I STARTED A NEW STORY AND WOW ITS GREAT ITS GOT RAVAGER MEREDITH AND J'SON AND YONDU :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many of you requested injured!Peter, so here. It's very mild and minor, probably not what you wanted.

After the news of a deadly assassin having caught wind of the situation and was hunting Peter down, Yondu decided it would be best to not dock the Elector anywhere until they got to xandar to settle their issues with the Guardians and Nova Prime.

He wasn't sure who this assassin was, but she was going by the name of Black Foot, and she had something against Peter.

Probably someone Peter had screwed over in the past.

"So we're practically stuck on the elector until we reach Xandar?" Kraglin asked.

"No." Yondu shook his head. "Not stuck. You can leave any time you want to in your M-Ship. Peter stays on the Elector and in my sight. We don't need him gettin kidnapped by a crazy woman."

Peter laid on the floor, pretending not to pay mind to them, but silently eavesdropping on the conversation.

Someone wanted him?

There's no way in hell he'd go anywhere unless he wanted to.

He could lay here and take a nap if he wanted to!

Actually, a nap did seem quite nice, even if it was on the cold metal floor of the Elector...

Hmm...

 

 

When Peter woke up, he was no longer on the floor. Instead, he was on Yondu's lap, leaning against the man's chest, half covered with a red coat that smelled of dirt, smoke, and a hint of liquor, among other earth-y smells. Peter was glad that Yondu was the rural exploring type. His clothes often smelled of dirt and grass and mud mixed with the smell of wet stones and river water and burned wood. No matter how many time's Yondu's coat went through a wash system, it never really got rid of that nature-based scent.

It was better than some of the other Ravagers, who's smells ranged from chemical-y, to alcohol, to straight up body odor.

Yondu was seated in one of his many captains' chairs, looking up at several holo screens with a disgruntled expression. He was looking at job offers, most likely putting some on hiatus until they got things sorted out with Nova Prime.

("Sorted out" really meant Yondu would tell Nova Prime and the guardians to go fuck themselves, he can deal with Peter on his own.)

The child rubbed at his eyes with a tiny hand and yawned, sitting up. He was done with napping, and as far as he could tell, Yondu didn't wanna be messed with, so he wasn't gonna bother the poor old man. He pushed the coat off of him and clambered down to the floor.

"I go play," he announced proudly, stretching his tiny arms and legs before dashing off to find someone to play with him. Maybe some of the elders would comply? They could be a mean bunch of people, but they were sweet to kid-Peter.

 

Much to Peter's disappointment, the elders were either sleeping, or being boring and...old.

He walked along the grated floors or the elector, wishing he hasn't kicked his shoes of earlier. All the walking on the uneven floor was making his bare feet hurt. He was unsure of who to go to next. Horuz was definitely a jerk and would probably threaten to kill Peter multiple times. Czar was far too large to be a great play-mate; he'd probably step on Peter and crush him to death. Zeana was nice enough, but she didn't quite get the idea of 'fun'...

Peter went down the list of Ravagers, mentally crossing out each name as it came to his mind until finally, he sighed and decided on Kraglin. Kraglin would probably tell him to get lost, but part of Peter's reason for existing was to annoy Kraglin to no end. So that's what he'd do.

\----------

 

"I want my revenge," the assassin, Black Foot, spoke, hand going for her sword that was on her side. A large hood covered her head and just beneath it, in the dim light, a silver mask could barley be seen. 

The nova officer she was interrogating spit at her "I can't help you, witch! I've already told you!"

"Lies!" She shouted, "You're a Nova, you have ties to the Guardians of the Galaxy, find out where their leader one, Peter Quill, is so I can kill him once and for all! He ruined my chance to destroy Xandar and for that I must eliminate him!"

"I don't know where he is and I don't care what he did!" The officer was beginning to get annoyed. "Peter Quill has ruined everything for everyone, not just you! It's what he does! Everywhere he goes he does something wrong! Don't you think it's a little greedy to hunt him down and kill him all by your self!? I'll bet other people out there hate him too!"

 

"Greedy might as well be my second name," the assassin hissed, reaching up to pull off her hood, as if she could make herself appear more diplomatic (since the officer obviously didn't comply with her demands when she threatened him with the sword.) the mask under was actually a full helmet. It was slim, holding the general form of a humanoid head. The entire thing was silver all around. Reflective like a mirror. A one way window. She could see out but no one could see in. "Now," she said, "Tell me where I might find these guardians of the Galaxy."

It made the nova officer uncomfortable. It was like staring at some alien creature (granted, they were BOTH aliens to each other). He wasn't sure if it was a mask of if it was really her face, which made it more terrifying. Staring at some blank, emotionless, reflective surface. "I don't know where they are. If you're so keen on finding him why don't you go to the Guardians of the Galaxy yourself?"

 

Black Foot was not happy with that answer.

She unsheathed her sword and hacked is left arm off.

\-------------

 

"Peter!" Kraglin lifted the sobbing child off the floor and moved him away from the broken shards of glass that littered the ground. "I told ya to quit playing around!"

He sat the boy on the floor a good distance away and immediately, the child grabbed his own foot, howling in pain.

"You stepped on glass...looks pretty deep." Kraglin quickly scooped the broken glass in to a box and pushed it aside, then picked Peter up. He winced as Peter's screams hurt his ears. "Let's go see Doc. She can fix ya up."

 

He stepped out of the lift and trudged toward the medical ward. When he stepped inside with the crying child, he was immediately met with death glares from the other occupants inside.

"What the hell did ya do to him!?"

"Nothing!" Kraglin said quickly. "He cut himself by accident I just brought him here to make sure it's not super bad okay!?"

Doc approached them.

"He's hurt," Kraglin said, immediately handing Peter over to her and rubbing at his ears in attempt to calm the shrill ringing. "Cut his foot while messing around, please make him stop crying."

 

"Maybe if you were watching him better, he wouldn't be hurt." A voice sounded behind Kraglin.

The skinny ravager rolled his eyes and turned around to face his Captain. "It ain't my job to babysit him."

"You should know he's just a kid and ain't supposed to run around neglected," Yondu said, pushing past Kraglin to follow after Doc and Peter.  
"I'm here for moral support," he said, hopping up on one of the exam tables beside Peter. Doc rolled her eyes. Yondu was here because he was being a total dad. It was just a piece of glass stuck in the boy's foot. There's was no need for the captain to come all the way down to the med bay.

"Papa," the boy whined, the rest of his words were babbled and incoherent as he shifted over to latch on to Yondu's side. The captain reached a gloved hand down to ruffle trough the boy's hair.

"Did'ja get hurt, Petey?"

The boy whimpered and nodded.

"Hold him still while I take the glass out," Doc instructed.

Yondu nodded, knowing Peter had always been a huge hassle every time he was in the medical ward.

Once, he'd stepped on a nail and went haywire when Doc tried to take it out. It took three people to hold him down and even then he thrashed about like crazy. He was about 24 when that happened.

Yondu recalled the memory and restrained the small boy, with much less force than he would normally use, but still enough to hold him still. "Doc has to take the glass outta your foot, kid. It'll only take a few seconds if you sit still and be good."

Immediately, Peter began to squirm around.

He didn't want anything near his already injured foot!

Yondu tightened his grip on Peter. "Hurry up and get it done with!"

Doc rolled her eyes and turned around to comply. She grabbed Peter's ankle and held his leg firm while she removed the glass from his foot. She wiped his tiny foot off and cleaned it up, then wrapped it up with a few bandages.

"Just change the bandage in a few hours so he doesn't bleed through it. It's not deep enough for stitches, but keep him off his foot so it doesn't get worse." She frowned and rubbed Peter's hair. Her bright yellow skin's stands out against Peter's brown hair, "Dont worry too much, little guy," she said. "It won't hurt very much anymore."

Yondu nodded his thanks and scooped Peter up. The boy was no longer sobbing, but still softly whimpering.

"Doc," he said, getting her attention from where she was putting away the bandages in a cabinet. She turned to look at him. "Eat more often. You're too skinny."

"I'm not skinny!" She protested. "I'm average! Just because I'm not insanely overweight like Horuz or bustling with muscle like Czar doesn't mean I can't still beat the tar outta someone!"

 

Yondu wanted to flip her off, he was just trying to be a good captain and care about his crew, but he was holding Peter.

"Now Pete," he patted the back of the boy's head. "Let's agree to wear shoes around here more often, okay?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking next chapter, something more major. Like a broken bone?
> 
> Suggestions are always welcome because I'm gonna use them to keep this fic going. Although I might dim some of them down to keep somewhat of a plot going.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing happens in this chapter
> 
> Literally nothing happens

It had been quite some time ago that Yondu had stopped waking up in the morning with a smaller, yet solid, weight on top of his chest.

Peter had grown up, but currently, Yondu found it quite nice to have the kid around again, even if he was several years smaller than when they first acquired him. Within the last fortnight, Yondu had gotten used to falling asleep and waking up with Peter curled against him and he didn't mind. Despite the threats to kill each other and the physical fist fights back in the day when Peter thought he was invincible and could handle everything, they had a strong bond. One most Ravagers didn't have with their captain. Granted, it only happened because Yondu'd hoped that Peter's father would come looking for the boy himself when he discovered that Yondu wasn't gonna deliver him like he said he would. Yondu wanted to see the man again, to give him the hardest, most forceful, face-breaking punch in the history of the universe. The man was a jackass and had screwed Yondu over big time and he needed to pay. But...over time, Yondu'd gotten kind of attached to Peter. And Peter quickly fit in with the crew like a Tetris block.

Exactly like a Tetris block, really. The crew would be standing almost shoulder-to-shoulder listening to orders from their captain, and here would come tiny little Peter, always late to the party, weaving his way in between each of the crew members and tripping them up or knocking them straight down as he did so. But Peter became crew, and Yondu had a 'no man...or woman gets left behind (unless we can't save him...or her)' rule. 

When Peter was a kid, Yondu was more like his father-figure. Always telling him what he can and can't do, always making rules and decisions for Peter, making sure he was fed, clothed, sheltered...protecting him when danger was nearby. As Peter grew older, Yondu became more like an older brother. Sometimes it was fun to be in each other's presence while on missions. Like the cool older brother you tag along with when he goes out with his friends. And sometimes Yondu was the absolute worst person in the Galaxy.

 

 

The captain folded his hands behind his head, waiting for Peter to wake up. The boy was practically on top of him, still asleep. He was curled up, leaning his upper body on Yondu's chest. It reminded Yondu of a drunk woman at a bar, clinging to the toilet because she was about to puke. One of Peter's little legs was jutting outward, due to a bright blue cast. The latest addition to Peter's injuries.

Little Peter, as it turned out to be, was a little clutz. He'd injured himself while climbing around (after Yondu had advised him SEVERAL TIMES not to). And now he had a bright blue cast to show off. It started just below his knee and went all the way down to his toes.

As bad as Yondu felt for Peter, he thought it was quite cute. It was heavy and weighed Peter down, he couldn't move very fast and he lumbered like an angry badger when he walked.

One hand slipped from behind his head and tangled in to Peter's soft hair. They boy's green eyes peeled open. He blinked them a few times and babbled something incoherently, which Yondu had come to understand was some kind of "good morning".

 

"Good morning, Petey," Yondu replied, sitting up and helping Peter sit up. The boy frowned, shifting until he found a comfortable position to sit, then gave Yondu a huge smile.

"Play?" He asked.

"Not right now. We've gotta make sure everyone's doing what they're supposed to be doing first," Yondu slid out of bed and tugged his fuzzy trench coat on, then scooped Peter in to his arms. 

'All he ever does is work," Peter thought, bracing himself on Yondu's shoulder. 'He needs a break.'

"Do you remember who we look for first in the morning, Pete?" Yondu asked, lowering Peter a bit so he could look the boy in the face.

Peter already knew the answer, "Kagun." He frowned when he couldn't pronounce the first-mate's name right.

"That's right. So where is he? Where do you think he could be?"

"I know," Peter tried to wiggle out of Yondu's arms, but the Centaurian tightened his grip.

"It'll take us hours if you walk. You're still not used to gettin' around with your cast yet."

Peter thought for a moment. Yondu was right. The cast closed him down a lot. "Okay..."

"So, where's Kraglin?"

 

Peter spoke slowly, so he wouldn't mispronounce his words or gain a lisp. "Kraglin is...eat-ing."

"So he's in the mess hall?"

Peter nodded. He'd memorized the routine of the first mate by now.

As the pair made their way toward the mess hall, Peter noticed how much more relaxed Yondu seemed to be when Peter clung to him. He wasn't constantly yelling or snapping at someone or even actively threatening to kill.

Peter liked this Yondu better than what he had before the incident. He rested his little chin on Yondu's shoulder and sighed. It was great and all, getting to do nothing and everything he wanted to when he wanted, but he missed his friends. He wondered what they were up to.

'Probably having brunch with Nova Prime.' He thought.

He was set on the floor of the mess hall once they entered. He spotted Kraglin sitting at one of the tables, spooning food in to his mouth. He limped over, little leg in the cast making him wobble a bit and struggle for balance.

He climbed up in to the seat beside Kraglin's, grabbing the man's pant leg and using it to help pull himself up.

"Ew, get him away from me," Kraglin complained. He was tired, having joined an early morning shift, and the last thing he needed to do was be in the presence of a child, not to mention that child was Peter. And Peter was annoying sometimes. He didn't hate him, just preferred him to not be a little gross baby.

'Rude' Peter thought, standing up on the chair so he could reach the table.

"He ain't that bad, Krag," Yondu said, lightly hitting the man on the back. "Just keep an eye out on him for a minuet and make sure he doesn't run away."

"Boss! Don't leave me alone with him! He'll probably pick his nose and wipe it on himself! I may be a ravager but even I've got standards when it comes to being gross!" Kraglin's pleas fell on deaf ears. He turned back to Peter, who was staring right at him.

The boy spoke slowly, so he wouldn't stumble over his words.

"Not gross. Small Peter," he pointed to himself. Then he pointed to his head, as if motioning to his brain "Big Peter here." 

"What?" Kraglin looked incredulously at the boy.

"Big Peter here," Peter explained it as best he could. "Won't be gross."

The first mate dropped his fork on the table. "You mean you're completely aware of what's happened?"

Peter nodded vigorously. "No tell Yondu."

"Wh..?"

"He work too much."

"He..." Kraglin processed it. "Oh. I see. You want to give him a break."

Peter nodded.

"You do realize that making him look after a kid isn't any kind of break at all, right?"

"But...he play with me. He take a nap when I sleep. He don't kill nobody."

"He's...less aggressive." Kraglin nodded, thinking about the captain's attitude change in the last three weeks. Yondu was so occupied with Peter that he didn't have time to breath down Kraglin's neck about keeping the others in order. And it was nice to not have to dispose of any dead bodies laying in the hallways. "Pete?"

"Ya?"

"You keep on playing this for all it's worth. But don't keep Yondu too distracted, ya hear."

"I hear," the boy gave a mock salute.

"Now get away from me."

"Okay." Peter sat down on the chair and slid his way off the chair careful not to hurt his foot. He limped off to find the captain (and maybe ask to play a game of catch.)

Kraglin watched the kid, picking his fork back up and continuing to eat. It's not that he hated Peter, the boy was like a brother to him, he just...didn't like kids. They cried and drooled and wiped their snot on your sleeve. Disgusting.

Lucky for him, Peter still had sense of his mind. If he did anything gross and disgusting, it would be on purpose, and Kraglin can hold it against him later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi I'm not dead
> 
> In the next chapter, the Ravagers encounter the Nova and the Guardians and Peter gets "kidnapped"
> 
> suggestions?
> 
> (Also please no volume 2 spoilers in the comments. This story has nothing to do with the Vol 2 story line.)

**Author's Note:**

> tbh this story is probably just an excuse to write dad yondu haaha 
> 
> If you could, please comment and tell me what kind of trouble you'd want to see tiny Peter (and Yondu) get in to >;D
> 
> I've already started chapter 2, but I can add any of your ideas to it to make it better!


End file.
